Ice Cube Shapes

Problem Scenario

It doesn't matter.

Broad Question-

How long would an ice cube shape melt if it were not a cube?

Specific Question-

Does the Shape of an ice cube affect its melting time?

Hypothesis-

The ice shape will affect the melting time.

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable: Shape of ice

Dependent Variable: Melting time

Variables That Need To Be Controlled: The ice size, the amount of liquid we use

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

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General Plan

For my project I am testing if the shape of an ice cube affects its melting time. To test it my project I will take containers to shape my ice. Then I will measure the amount of water to make sure that all containers are even. The shapes will be multiple squares, triangles, circles, stars, and octagons. Then I will freeze the water in the containers. When they are all frozen I will take one out at a time, and count by seconds to see how long it takes. I will do the same procedure with all ice shapes. Then I will write down the data and find out to see if the shape of an ice cube does affect it's melting time.

Potential Problems And Solutions

Finding a container to shape the ice. My solution will be to search multiple stores to find the containers.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

No environmental concerns, except for an area being too cold.

Experimental Design

Resources and Budget Table

Item	Number needed	Where I will get this	Cost
cube container	3	wal-mart
circular container	3	wal-mart
pentagon container	3	wal-mart

Detailed Procedure

Take shaped ice and lay them out on a metal sheet, make sure that the sheet is flat so all melting times will be accurate. Then take a stop watch and time each shaped ice individually. It should take anywhere from 30- 120 minutes.

Diagram

Photo List

Time Line

March 18- Tested ice cubes
March - Finished poster.
March 29- Science fair.

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Data Table

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Data Analysis

All Raw Data

Graphs

Photos

none.

Results

The square shaped ice had melted in 30 minutes. The circle shaped ice had melted in 30 minutes also. The star shaped ice melted in 50 minutes. The octagon shaped ice melted in 60 minutes. The triangular shaped ice had melted in 35 minutes.

Conclusion

The shape of an ice cube greatly affects the melting time.

Discussion

My hypothesis was more correct than it ever could. Yet my experiment couldn't help solve anything I still found it useful. Yet I found that the shape of the ice does affect it's melting time. My experiment was very accurate. The shapes seemed to stay in the 30-60 minute range. The relationship between the independant and dependant variable had a strong relationship. Only because the ice itself, matched the melting time question.

Benefit to Community and/or Science

It helps our community by knowing the melting time of different ice cube shapes.

Background Research-

I researched how long it took an average ice cube to melt. Then I researched peoples scientific opinions on "if an ice shape effects its melting time. After that I researched the density of water. The density of water is 1,000.00 milliliters cubed. Then I took shapes and tested to make sure they were all the same size, and weight.

References

Abstract- My question for the science fair was if the shape of an ice cube affected its melting time. Which it indeed did. Which matched my hypothesis, because I thought that it did. I decided what my specific and broad question would be. Then I started on my wikipage. Then I got all the materials I needed to do my experiment. Then I did my experiment and came to a conclusion, and results.